Dreamers: Stories

The short stories in Dreamers explore American masculinity in the twenty-first century. They also examine and complicate Asian-American identity at a time when decades-old stereotypes persist in the culture. In the title story, a war veteran returns home from Afghanistan to find an American landscape that has the feel and texture of a terrible dream. In other stories, men fixate not on women but on each other. In “Still Life,” the middle-aged main character is preoccupied with a friend who died over fifteen years ago. The main character in “At War with the Insects” pursues a man who was both persecutor and liberator at the lowest point in his life. Power and dominance are themes that surface in “From the Archive.” In the story, a visit to a childhood friend turns sinister as one man tries to blackmail the other. In “James Choi,” a young man of Korean-American descent marvels at the sexual prowess of his best friend while searching for answers in the aftermath of his mysterious suicide. The final story in the collection presents the private journal of a high school senior a couple weeks before prom. The Korean-American narrator of “The Great Unknown” is less concerned about prom than a friend whom he believes has the makings of another Seung-Hui Cho, the notorious architect of the mass murder at Virginia Tech in 2007

Genetic variability and consequence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis lineage 3 in Kampala-Uganda

Limited data existed exclusively describing Mycobacterium tuberculosis lineage 3 (MTB-L3), sub-lineages, and clinical manifestations in Kampala, Uganda. This study sought to elucidate the circulating MTB-L3 sub-lineages and their corresponding clinical phenotypes.; A total of 141 M. tuberculosis isolates were identified as M. tuberculosis lineage 3 using Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) marker analysis method. To ascertain the sub-lineages/sub-strains within the M. tuberculosis lineage 3, the direct repeat (DR) loci for all the isolates was examined for sub-lineage specific signatures as described in the SITVIT2 database. The infecting sub-strains were matched with patients' clinical and demographic characteristics to identify any possible association.; The data showed 3 sub-lineages circulating with CAS 1 Delhi accounting for 55% (77/141), followed by CAS 1-Kili 16% (22/141) and CAS 2/CAS 8% (12/141). Remaining isolates 21% (30/141) were unclassifiable. To explore whether the sub-lineages differ in their ability to cause increased severe disease, we used extent of lung involvement as a proxy for severe disease. Multivariable analysis showed no association between M. tuberculosis lineage 3 sub-lineages with severe disease. The risk factors associated with severe disease include having a positive smear (OR = 9.384; CI 95% = 2.603-33.835), HIV (OR = 0.316; CI 95% = 0.114-0.876), lymphadenitis (OR = 0. 171; CI 95% = 0.034-0.856) and a BCG scar (OR = 0.295; CI 95% = 0.102-0.854).; In Kampala, Uganda, there are three sub-lineages of M. tuberculosis lineage 3 that cause disease of comparable severity with CAS-Dehli as the most prevalent. Having HIV, lymphadenitis, a BCG scar and a smear negative status is associated with reduced severe disease

Catching Element Formation In The Act

Gamma-ray astronomy explores the most energetic photons in nature to address some of the most pressing puzzles in contemporary astrophysics. It encompasses a wide range of objects and phenomena: stars, supernovae, novae, neutron stars, stellar-mass black holes, nucleosynthesis, the interstellar medium, cosmic rays and relativistic-particle acceleration, and the evolution of galaxies. MeV gamma-rays provide a unique probe of nuclear processes in astronomy, directly measuring radioactive decay, nuclear de-excitation, and positron annihilation. The substantial information carried by gamma-ray photons allows us to see deeper into these objects, the bulk of the power is often emitted at gamma-ray energies, and radioactivity provides a natural physical clock that adds unique information. New science will be driven by time-domain population studies at gamma-ray energies. This science is enabled by next-generation gamma-ray instruments with one to two orders of magnitude better sensitivity, larger sky coverage, and faster cadence than all previous gamma-ray instruments. This transformative capability permits: (a) the accurate identification of the gamma-ray emitting objects and correlations with observations taken at other wavelengths and with other messengers; (b) construction of new gamma-ray maps of the Milky Way and other nearby galaxies where extended regions are distinguished from point sources; and (c) considerable serendipitous science of scarce events -- nearby neutron star mergers, for example. Advances in technology push the performance of new gamma-ray instruments to address a wide set of astrophysical questions.Comment: 14 pages including 3 figure

word~river literary review (2011)

wordriver is a literary journal dedicated to the poetry, short fiction and creative nonfiction of adjuncts and part-time instructors teaching in our universities, colleges, and community colleges. Our premier issue was published in Spring 2009. We are always looking for work that demonstrates the creativity and craft of adjunct/part-time instructors in English and other disciplines. We reserve first publication rights and onetime anthology publication rights for all work published. We define adjunct instructors as anyone teaching part-time or full-time under a semester or yearly contract, nationwide and in any discipline. Graduate students teaching under part-time contracts during the summer or who have used up their teaching assistant time and are teaching with adjunct contracts for the remainder of their graduate program also are eligible.https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/word_river/1001/thumbnail.jp

Long-Lost Brothers: How Nihilism Provides Bigger Thomas and Biggie Smalls With a Soul

This article builds on scholarship that already links Native Son’s protagonist Bigger Thomas to real-life gangsta rappers such as Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur. James Baxter Peterson calls Biggie Smalls a “Bigger figure.” In other words, the persona/character created by the popular, deceased rapper was a kind of literary descendant of Bigger Thomas in the sense that he’s an echo of the “bad nigger” character type presented so memorably in Native Son. In his own work, Nick De Genova invokes both gangsta rap and Wright to complicate the definition of nihilism, which he describes as a state of mind resulting from two competing forces: the drive to self-preservation and the drive to self-destruction. His definition of nihilism suggests an intellectual and emotional life for the gangsta and gangsta rapper, arguably a dangerous claim in a contemporary American mainstream culture that has largely sought to deny his humanity. In this article, a close reading of Native Son and Biggie Small’s seminal rap album Ready to Die shows the striking similarities between Bigger Thomas and Biggie Smalls. In their respective texts, both characters experience existential struggles as they negotiate a society that induces a fractured psychology, causing them to fluctuate between the death impulse and the self-preservation impulse. Seen from this perspective, Bigger Thomas and Biggie Smalls exemplify a kind of nihilism that embodies existential struggle instead of mere hopelessness and meaninglessness. This perspective also aims to revitalize discussion of the artistic and intellectual merit of gangsta rap as well as inspire a reconsideration of the humanity of those “gangstas” whom many in society view in only two dimensions

\u3ci\u3ePrestoncrest Ministries\u3c/i\u3e

Prentice Avery Meador, Jr., Dave Malone, David Moses, and Eddie Couch\u27s sermon, Prestoncrest Ministries. This sermon was preached Sunday evening, 14 April 1996, at Prestoncrest Church of Christ in Dallas, Texas

Clinical and epidemiological characteristics of individuals resistant to M. tuberculosis infection in a longitudinal TB household contact study in Kampala, Uganda

his is the first study to rigorously characterize the epidemiologic risk profile of individuals with persistently negative TSTs despite close exposure to a person with TB. Additional studies are needed to characterize possible epidemiologic and host factors associated with this phenotype.Background Despite sustained exposure to a person with pulmonary tuberculosis (TB), some M. tuberculosis (Mtb) exposed individuals maintain a negative tuberculin skin test (TST). Our objective was to characterize these persistently negative TST (PTST-) individuals and compare them to TST converters (TSTC) and individuals who are TST positive at study enrollment. Methods During a TB household contact study in Kampala, Uganda, PTST-, TSTC, and TST + individuals were identified. PTST- individuals maintained a negative TST over a 2 year observation period despite prolonged exposure to an infectious tuberculosis (TB) case. Epidemiological and clinical characteristics were compared, a risk score developed by another group to capture risk for Mtb infection was computed, and an ordinal regression was performed. Results When analyzed independently, epidemiological risk factors increased in prevalence from PTST- to TSTC to TST+. An ordinal regression model suggested age (p < 0.01), number of windows (p < 0.01) and people (p = 0.07) in the home, and sleeping in the same room (p < 0.01) were associated with PTST- and TSTC. As these factors do not exist in isolation, we examined a risk score, which reflects an accumulation of risk factors. This compound exposure score did not differ significantly between PTST-, TSTC, and TST+, except for the 5–15 age group (p = 0.009). Conclusions Though many individual factors differed across all three groups, an exposure risk score reflecting a collection of risk factors did not differ for PTST-, TSTC and TST + young children and adults. This is the first study to rigorously characterize the epidemiologic risk profile of individuals with persistently negative TSTs despite close exposure to a person with TB. Additional studies are needed to characterize possible epidemiologic and host factors associated with this phenotype

Incremental Game Mechanics applied to Text Annotation

We argue that the mechanics of 'Ville type Free-To-Play (F2P) games in general, and incremental games in particular, is especially suited for Games-With-A-Purpose. We demonstrate this through WordClicker, an incremental game whose mechanics is designed for text labelling. We believe the design and mechanics used are highly transferable to other games featuring annotation where game design is a challenge, such as serious games and language resourcing GWAPs. The game was tested with audiences from three popular indie gaming portals, achieving promising results both for entertainment value and learning